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| Jeremy Hunt: We need to make difficult decisions | Jeremy Hunt: We need to make difficult decisions |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Jeremy Hunt arriving at the BBC on Saturday | Jeremy Hunt arriving at the BBC on Saturday |
| Difficult decisions will be needed "across the board" on tax and spending, the new chancellor has said. | Difficult decisions will be needed "across the board" on tax and spending, the new chancellor has said. |
| Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that some taxes will go up, while government spending may need to fall. | Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that some taxes will go up, while government spending may need to fall. |
| He said two mistakes were made in the mini-budget by Kwasi Kwarteng - cutting the top rate of tax and announcing it without an independent forecast. | He said two mistakes were made in the mini-budget by Kwasi Kwarteng - cutting the top rate of tax and announcing it without an independent forecast. |
| But he also praised his predecessor for help offered to people struggling with their energy bills. | But he also praised his predecessor for help offered to people struggling with their energy bills. |
| Mr Hunt said he agreed with the prime minister's goal of "solving the growth paradox", but added: "The way we went about it clearly wasn't right and that's why I'm sitting here now." | Mr Hunt said he agreed with the prime minister's goal of "solving the growth paradox", but added: "The way we went about it clearly wasn't right and that's why I'm sitting here now." |
| Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Mr Hunt said: "Taxes are not going to come down by as much as people hoped, and some taxes will have to go up. | Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Mr Hunt said: "Taxes are not going to come down by as much as people hoped, and some taxes will have to go up. |
| "I'm going to be asking all government departments to find additional efficiency savings." | "I'm going to be asking all government departments to find additional efficiency savings." |
| But Mr Hunt, who was appointed as chancellor on Friday after Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked by the prime minister, refused to outline any details for his tax and spending plans. | |
| He told BBC Breakfast he was "not going to make any commitments" and reiterated he was just hours into the job. | |
| His comments come after the government's mini-budget last month, which included £45bn worth of tax cuts, and sparked turbulence in the financial markets. | His comments come after the government's mini-budget last month, which included £45bn worth of tax cuts, and sparked turbulence in the financial markets. |
| Addressing mistakes he said were made by the ex-chancellor, Mr Hunt said: "There were two mistakes - it was wrong to cut the top rate of tax for the very highest earners at a time where we're going to have to be asking for sacrifices from everyone to get through a very difficult period. | |
| "And it was wrong to fly blind and to announce those plans without reassuring people with the discipline of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that we actually can afford to pay for them." | "And it was wrong to fly blind and to announce those plans without reassuring people with the discipline of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that we actually can afford to pay for them." |
| He said both of these were now in the process of "being put right". | He said both of these were now in the process of "being put right". |
| Mr Hunt said he would be meeting Treasury officials later and Liz Truss on Sunday. | |
| After just 39 days as prime minister, Ms Truss is facing huge pressure from within her party as key elements of the major economic plan she and the former chancellor set out in September have been scrapped. | |
| Friday's U-turn on plans to cut corporation tax followed an earlier reversal of plans to cut the 45p rate of income tax for the highest earners. | |
| The PM described sacking Mr Kwarteng and scrapping another key economic policy as "difficult" and admitted that "parts of our mini-budget went further and faster" than the markets were expecting in a short press conference on Friday. |